The Secret to Making Time for Exercise - No Matter How Busy You Are!

by Karie Hamilton

As a personal trainer in Toronto, I've had to teach clients that when it comes to mastering an exercise, patience is a virtue. But when it comes to exercise for weight loss, so is speed. In Toronto's fast-paced Bay Street culture it is so easy to say "I don't have time" instead of "I'll make time."

Making time for exercise is hard when you are under stress from negative thinking that creates an internal conflict. As a personal trainer I have found a quick and easy cure for this type of thinking, and if you think it's spending endless hours in the gym -or working out to countless home videos... be prepared to be surprised.

Negative thinking creates internal conflict; two competing thoughts, for example, how many times have you said: "Yes, I'd like to exercise but ... I don't have time for exercise?"

One way to reduce internal conflicts is to go to the source of them. Starting with time management, I advise my Toronto clients to live life from the small scale. Let me explain: even as a personal trainer, I have my challenges when it comes to patience, specifically treadmill work. Yet, sometimes I have to include this training into my program. That could be up to 5 hours a week!

For a woman who likes everything "now" doing this exercise is like waiting for spring to come in the dead of the coldest Toronto winter. So how do I stay sane on the treadmill for a longer duration than usual? Very simple. Whenever the issue of time comes up, I ignore it - or I focus on living "one minute at a time." Not one day. Not one hour. One minute.

I counter my resistance from negative thoughts (those doubtful thoughts we all have) with the positive dialogue of facts: "Can I get through one minute of this?" I ask myself. "Yes, I can!" "Good, then let's focus on that one minute, right now - not the other 29 other minutes that haven't come yet."

This same way of thinking works great for any activity too, not just exercise. Get up in the morning. Think about exercising. When you do so, if you feel resistance, tell yourself, "Let's just do one minute of mountain climbers. I can do that." The more you reinforce your mind set with realistic, factual information, the easier it is to have the energy to do another minute.

After that, ask yourself if can do do just one minute of push ups, or one minute of deep breathing. And if a minute is too long for you - how about 5 seconds of deep breathing for stomach conditioning? Everyone has 5 seconds, right? Now what if you did 10 reps of the "clap" push-ups? That would be how long? About a minute. Can you dramatically affect change in your body in one minute?

The answer is: Heck yeah!

And the good news is that when you can conquer one minute - and you enjoy that minute, you'll want to go for a second and a third minute - and so on. Yet the desire for you to do more comes organically. No pushing, prodding or flogging yourself to be motivated. Use this method and I assure you that you'll feel more energized and confident in your ability to accomplish your exercise and diet goals in no time flat. Make it a happen TODAY!